So...How bad did I screw up?

[jnick]

So I attempted to do my first detail on my parents SUV last weekend. First, I gotta say, it was quite the experience! I never realized how much work detailing really is. At 20yrs old, I can now understand why detailing costs what it costs!

Anywho, the vehicle was a 2001 Santa Fe - sandstone in color. It has never been detailed since they bought it new in 2001. The only thing it's ever seen was those automated car washes (yikes!).

Here's what I did:

1: Washed the car with Megs GC wash - Dried with Microfiber
2: Clayed the entire car with the mothers clay kit
3: Applied one coat of Megs Deep Crystal Polish (by hand)
4: Applied one coat of Mothers carnauba wax (by hand)

I didn't realize until after I waxed that normally, people apply 2-5 coats of polish and 2-3 coats of wax.

My question is, what should I do?

Should I apply a few coats of polish on top of the single coat of wax, and then re-wax it? Should I wash the car first, then re-polish and wax? Should I just add a few more coats of wax until the spring of next year?

The other issue is that living in NY, the winters can be harsh. I really want to add adequate protection for the car during this winter season.

The car does look great though. It's never been so shiny before! The only problem is, now you can REALLY see all of the dings and scratches .

Any suggestions on what I should do is more than welcome!

Thank you!

[SShine]

polishing after waxing is wrong.

[jesselyons2002]

Im 21 and already spend almost 2 grands on detail stuff.

[bert31]

Originally Posted by jnick

So I attempted to do my first detail on my parents SUV last weekend. First, I gotta say, it was quite the experience! I never realized how much work detailing really is. At 20yrs old, I can now understand why detailing costs what it costs!

Anywho, the vehicle was a 2001 Santa Fe - sandstone in color. It has never been detailed since they bought it new in 2001. The only thing it's ever seen was those automated car washes (yikes!).

Here's what I did:

1: Washed the car with Megs GC wash - Dried with Microfiber
2: Clayed the entire car with the mothers clay kit
3: Applied one coat of Megs Deep Crystal Polish (by hand)
4: Applied one coat of Mothers carnauba wax (by hand)

I didn't realize until after I waxed that normally, people apply 2-5 coats of polish and 2-3 coats of wax.

My question is, what should I do?

Should I apply a few coats of polish on top of the single coat of wax, and then re-wax it? Should I wash the car first, then re-polish and wax? Should I just add a few more coats of wax until the spring of next year?

The other issue is that living in NY, the winters can be harsh. I really want to add adequate protection for the car during this winter season.

The car does look great though. It's never been so shiny before! The only problem is, now you can REALLY see all of the dings and scratches .

Any suggestions on what I should do is more than welcome!

Thank you!

Since you used Megs Deep Crystal Polish by hand I assume you do not own a rotary or a dual action polisher. If my assumption is correct, removing scratches by hand is very very difficult and if the scratches are deep, you may not be able to correct them, only improve their appearance.

When you say people apply 2-3 coats of polish, I would assume they are not using the same polish each time. In other words, the first time they are using a compound with a cutting pad on their rotary or dual action polisher to remove swirl marks, light scratches, etc.. After that step, they use a finishing polish with a finish pad on their dual action polisher or rotary to give the paint a nice finish. I am guess Megs Deep Crystl Polish is a finish polish, I don't know to be honest.

If we are only talking a few scratches and you want to continue by hand, I would try Meg's Scratch X and work on each scratch individually then follow with another application of Megs Deep Crystl Polish . If scratches are all over the car, your parents may need to just learn to accept the scratches or (even better) buy you a Ultimate Detailing Machine (UDM)!!!! A UDM with a cutting pad and a compound may be able to correct the scratches if not, it will make the scratches much less noticable.

Regardless, the polishing will remove your old coat of Mothers carnauba wax and you will need to apply another coat.

[BigJimZ28]

1.) you don't apply coats of polish, you polish a few time to remove defects
2.) it is hard if not impossible to remove defect by hand polishing
3.)Megs Deep Crystal Polish is a glaze and does not remove defects it hides them
So in a few weeks or after it rains it will be gone and your paint will look like it did before

[stiffdogg06]

Anyways, That carnauba won't last a NY winter no matter how many times you apply it IMO.

If you plan on taking care of your car for a while. I suggest possibly looking into getting a Porter Cable 7424. It will a better job at removing defects than hand polishing. I also suggest maybe going to a local NAPA, autozone, or pep boys and pick up some of their Meguiars polishes. That is if you don't want to order online.

[BlueLibby04]

You did not mess up at all.

Ive never applied more than one coat of polish unless Im trying to remove defects which is not what youre trying to do with megs DC. One coat of wax is fine. Some people apply 2 coats(I do), but you cannot actually layer a wax(many people will argue this). I apply two coats to get a uniform coverage and look.

[jnick]

Originally Posted by bert31

Since you used Megs Deep Crystal Polish by hand I assume you do not own a rotary or a dual action polisher. If my assumption is correct, removing scratches by hand is very very difficult and if the scratches are deep, you may not be able to correct them, only improve their appearance.

When you say people apply 2-3 coats of polish, I would assume they are not using the same polish each time. In other words, the first time they are using a compound with a cutting pad on their rotary or dual action polisher to remove swirl marks, light scratches, etc.. After that step, they use a finishing polish with a finish pad on their dual action polisher or rotary to give the paint a nice finish. I am guess Megs Deep Crystl Polish is a finish polish, I don't know to be honest.

If we are only talking a few scratches and you want to continue by hand, I would try Meg's Scratch X and work on each scratch individually then follow with another application of Megs Deep Crystl Polish . If scratches are all over the car, your parents may need to just learn to accept the scratches or (even better) buy you a Ultimate Detailing Machine (UDM)!!!! A UDM with a cutting pad and a compound may be able to correct the scratches if not, it will make the scratches much less noticeable.

Regardless, the polishing will remove your old coat of Mothers carnauba wax and you will need to apply another coat.

Yes, I do not own a porter cable/udm, though I am looking into one for the beginning of next year.

So when I read that "unknown1" applied 4 coats of polish - it doesn't mean that they applied 4 coats of the same polish for a "better" finish? What about waxes? Is it safe/the norm to apply more than one coat of the same wax?

Also, believe it or not, my parents don't really mind the scratches. I was just wondering if it would be possible to take them out myself. I guess it was more of a self-goal type of thing . I'll post pics up though so you guys can judge. Some aren't that deep, but others...man they're brutal!

Originally Posted by BigJimZ28

1.) you don't apply coats of polish, you polish a few time to remove defects
2.) it is hard if not impossible to remove defect by hand polishing
3.)Megs Deep Crystal Polish is a glaze and does not remove defects it hides them
So in a few weeks or after it rains it will be gone and your paint will look like it did before

When you say you polish a few times...are you stating that I would only apply polish on the said defect and not the entire car? Or are you agreeing with the above poster, that you may polish more then once, but each time it's a different polish (for a different effect).

In regards to Megs DCP...I'd assume what you're saying is that it's the cheap stuff? What polish would you recommend that will last longer than a "few weeks"? Or do all polishes only last a few weeks?

Originally Posted by stiffdogg06

Anyways, That carnauba won't last a NY winter no matter how many times you apply it IMO.

If you plan on taking care of your car for a while. I suggest possibly looking into getting a Porter Cable 7424. It will a better job at removing defects than hand polishing. I also suggest maybe going to a local NAPA, autozone, or pep boys and pick up some of their Meguiars polishes. That is if you don't want to order online.

Hmm...If carnauba wax won't last...what will?

As stated earlier, I'm definitely looking into some sort of machine polisher. I'd pick up more of Megs polishes in a heart beat, however according to the poster above you, they won't last very long. Do you have any suggestions on which are decent polishes that last longer than a "few weeks"? I don't mind ordering online one bit. So I'm open to the more foreign polishes/waxes/products which aren't featured in autozone, etc.

Thanks for the information

[jnick]

Originally Posted by BlueLibby04

You did not mess up at all.

Well now, that's nice to hear!

Ive never applied more than one coat of polish unless Im trying to remove defects which is not what youre trying to do with megs DC. One coat of wax is fine. Some people apply 2 coats(I do), but you cannot actually layer a wax(many people will argue this). I apply two coats to get a uniform coverage and look.

Again, that is good to hear! However, being the poster above stated that the one coat of wax won't last a NY winter...do you have any suggestions? Or is it just a matter of waxing the car multiple times over the winter?

I'd definitely prefer to apply something now that would last the entire winter, or at least three months, but if I have to apply a product every month or so, I'll do it.

[Ern]

Collinite 845 should get you through winter. 2 coats and good prep work.

[bert31]

Originally Posted by jnick

So when I read that "unknown1" applied 4 coats of polish - it doesn't mean that they applied 4 coats of the same polish for a "better" finish? What about waxes? Is it safe/the norm to apply more than one coat of the same wax?

I think you may be confusing what polish does when you say "coats of polish".

A polish (or compound) is not something you put on your car/truck to protect it like you would a wax or a sealant. In the most basic terms, a polish is something with abrasives in it that you apply on your paint with a polishing pad or some other type of applicator to work the abrasives in the polish over the paint to remove a tiny amount of the clear coat (or paint if it doesn't have clear coat). By removing this tiny amount of clear coat, you are "leveling out" the surface. Once you are finished, you wipe the polish off.

Take this analogy. Let's say you have a piece of wood that you were going to build something with and the wood has a small nik or scratch in it. If you took a piece of aggresive sand paper and rubbed it over that nik, eventually you would remove enough wood surrounding the nik or scratch that the nik or scratch would disappear. That is the same thing as when you are polishing with a compound. I compound has aggressive enough abrasives in it to remove swirl marks or light scratches. Now going back to the wood analogy. After using that aggressive sand paper to remove the nik or scratch, the surface of that wood is probably a little rough and does not look nice. Now you would grab a very fine piece of sand paper to go over that same area to "pretty things up a bit". A finishing polish is similar to the fine piece of sand paper, it cleans up the surface of the car and gives it a nice shine.

So keep in mind, you are not applying coats of polish. You are applying a polish, working it into the paint, and removing it once it has done its job. What you can apply coats of is a sealant. A sealant is a synthetic wax. Whether you can apply coats of a carnauba wax can be argued. Both sealants and carnauba waxes are referred to as a Last Step Product or LSP for short. I recommend you just keep on reading posts on this thread for more information.

[bert31]

Originally Posted by Ern

Collinite 845 should get you through winter. 2 coats and good prep work.

When Ern is telling saying good prep work, he means to do the following:

1) Wash the car thoroughly (twice if needed) to remove all dirt and loose contaminants
2) Clay very thoroughly to remove all contaminants that are stuck to the surface that washing was not able to remove.
3) (This step is optional) Use a paint cleanser to deep clean in the pores of the clear coat or paint if it does not have a clear coat.
4) Polish the paint.

The better job you do on those above steps, the better job your wax or sealant will adhere and bond to the surface and thereby provide you will better protection and a better shine.